News

Today Google reported blow-out earnings which surprised Wall Street.  After hours trading had the shares up 35+ dollars and close to $600 a share.

Just this past week, Google was at $500 a share so this stock has surged 100 points through the earnings week.

According to Google’s press release:

…the company reported earnings excluding items of $9.72 a share, up from from $7.64 per share a year ago. Net income rose to $2.73 billion from $2.17 billion.

Net revenue, which excludes fees that Google shares with partner websites, increased 37 percent to $7.51 billion from $5.48 billion last year.

Aggregate paid clicks, which come from ads on Google sites and its AdSense partners, rose 28 percent from a year earlier and the average cost-per-click increased 5 percent from a year earlier.

Automotive Advertising Trends on Google

In the past year, automotive advertising clients of PCG Digital Marketing have been moving more of their budgets to online spending with Google.  The biggest increases are in Google Adwords, Adwords Express, Mobile Adwords, and Retargeting.

Auto dealers are also increasing spending on Facebook but to a lesser degree when compared to Google investments.

Google’s  automotive advertising strategies are connecting dealers with in-market car buyers and increasing dealer sales and profits. The shift is confirmed by today’s earnings announcement from Google.

PCG Digital Marketing is assisting dealers review their advertising budgets and strategies and recommending changes to better connect with consumers during the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), a phrase coined by Jim Leciniski at Google.

Readers can download a free copy of Jim Leciniski’s book at www.zeromomentoftruth.com

Shifting from Stimulus to ZMOT Investments

Car dealers still are overweighted in stimulus spending; radio, TV, and print.   On average, car dealers have 75-80% of their budget investment in traditional stimulus advertising.

When PCG Digital Marketing educates dealers on the changes brought on by the online marketplace the shift to increase digital spending is clear.  Investments in Google advertising are measurable and can be tested to improve conversion and ROI.  This is an opportunity not afforded by traditional stimulus investments.

Dealers looking for more information on the best mixture of traditional and online advertising investments are invited to join the Automotive Zero Moment of Truth study which begins October 25, 2011.  The study is open to Dealer Principals, General Managers, and Marketing Managers of automotive dealerships in the US and Canada.

More information on the AUtomotive ZMOT study can be found at: http://www.automotivezeromomentoftruth.com

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Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

Google posted an update on their Adwords website regarding Conversion Optimization settings. This may be news to many dealers who run their own Adwords campaign (Automotive SEM) so I am re-posting some information provided on their blog.

Keep in mind that “conversion” for Google tracks responses via forms submission, which would not include phone calls that are generated by PPC campaigns.  This is one reason why dealers using PPC should include tracking phone numbers to capture all activity related to PPC clicks.

Since consumers call dealers more often than they submit leads, you just have to keep in mind that Google conversion “numbers” can be just a fraction of the true conversion metrics.

Setting Google Adwords Conversion Optimization On

The Conversion Optimizer is an AdWords feature that uses your AdWords Conversion Tracking data to get you more conversions at a lower cost. It optimizes your placement in each ad auction to avoid unprofitable clicks and gets you as many profitable clicks as possible.

How Conversion Optimization Works

With the Conversion Optimizer, you bid using a maximum CPA, which is the most you’re willing to pay for each conversion (such as a purchase or signup), or a Target CPA, which is the average amount you’d like to pay for a conversion.

Using historical information about your campaign, the Conversion Optimizer automatically finds the optimal equivalent cost-per-click (CPC) bid for your ad each time it’s eligible to appear. You still pay per click, but you no longer need to adjust your bids manually to reach your CPA goals and can benefit from improved ROI.

To calculate the optimal equivalent CPC bid, the Conversion Optimizer first calculates a predicted conversion rate for each auction. The Conversion Optimizer takes many factors into account, including your ad’s conversion history, the keyword’s broad match query, the user’s location, and the conversion rates of Google’s search and partner sites on the Display Network. The feature then generates an ad rank by combining your CPA bid, quality score and predicted conversion rate.

Improving your performance

Many advertisers using Conversion Optimizer have achieved double-digit percentage increases in conversions, while paying the same price or less for each conversion.

To begin using the Conversion Optimizer, you must have AdWords Conversion tracking enabled, and your campaign must have received at least 15 conversions in the last 30 days. Also, the campaign must have been receiving conversions at a similar rate for at least a few days.

Google recommends you run conversion tracking for at least two weeks before trying the conversion optimizer no matter what your volume of conversions is (more if you don’t have a high volume of conversions).

I hope you found this helpful!  Google Adwords should be a part of an comprehensive Automotive Advertising strategy.  When properly setup, Adwords can be a great sure for leads; sales, service and parts.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

See you in Orlando, April 16-18th at the 2nd Annual Automotive Marketing Boot Camp

PCG Digital Marketing today announced a follow up study to their widely popular Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) study going on now.  The new study, Automotive Search Engine Marketing (SEM), will guide 100 dealers through creating, managing, and analyzing paid digital marketing campaigns.

Automotive Internet sales and marketing professionals who are currently working at car dealerships and want to master powerful SEM tools and strategies to improve the search visibility of their website are invited to participate in the Automotive Search Engine Marketing study. The study is open to employees of car dealers only.

The Automotive SEM Study will be limited to 100 automotive dealers. Enrollment is free and is now open.  Dealers who wish to participate in the 8-week program will need to devote 2-3 hours per week to the study as well as a minimum of $1,000 per month to go directly to their dealer’s paid digital marketing campaigns.

For more information about enrolling in the study, please visit http://www.automotivesemstudy.com/ and sign up using the link on the right.

Study members will be trained and coached on the proper setup, execution, and measurement of paid advertising campaigns.  The primary focus will be on Google and Facebook marketing with a secondary focus on Yahoo and Bing advertising.

The 100 participating dealers will have access to winning digital marketing strategies, marketing outlines, tutorials, and websites managed by PCG Digital Marketing that will enhance the results of their work. In return, members in the study will share the results of their work and be included in a whitepaper being prepared by PCG Digital Marketing.

The first webinar of the study kicks off on February 15^th 2011.

Automotive SEM Study Requirements

The requirements to participate in the study are:

1. Participants must be an employee of a car dealership, proof will be required.
2. Participants must have written permission to setup a PPC campaign and have a budget to run the campaigns.
3. Participants must have an email address from an active dealership domain.
4. Members in the study will be required to dedicate up to 3 hours a week to complete the tasks required for success.
5. Participants must be willing to share the results of their work to allow the data to be summarized* in the final study whitepaper.

* No confidential data or specific dealership website results will be published in the whitepaper or made public without written permission from participant.

Register For Automotive SEM Study

Dealers interested in participating should register online at http://www.automotivesemstudy.com . PCG Digital Marketing retains the right to decline dealer participation in the Automotive SEM Study based on conflicts of interest with current clients.

About PCG Digital Marketing

PCG Digital Marketing (www.pcgdigitalmarketing.com) is a full service digital marketing agency that serves the Automotive Industry.  PCG is nationally recognized as a leader in Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and automotive digital marketing.

Brian Pasch, CEO and founder of PCG Digital Marketing is an active blogger, writer and speaker at automotive conferences, 20 Groups and digital marketing forums.  PCG Digital Marketing is also the sponsor of the 2010 AWA awards, which recognizes the best automotive websites platforms based on their search marketing effectiveness.  (www.automotivewebsiteawards.com)